166 GLECHO'MA HEDERA'CEA EXAMINED. 



cipal distinction of the genus Glecho'ma, to which 

 our plant belongs ; and we shall now try, whether 

 the remaining characters correspond with the de- 

 scription. 



" The cup is small, in proportion to the size of 

 " the blossom, and formed of one leaf, in five un- 

 " equal divisions, each of which ends in a point. 

 " The upper lip of the blossom is upright, and 

 " slightly notched in the middle ; the lower lip is 

 " large, turns down, and has three divisions, the 

 " middle one the broadest, and notched at the 

 " end. The style is thread-shaped, and the sum- 

 " mit cloven into two pointed divisions. There is 

 " no seed-vessel : but the seeds are placed at the 

 " bottom of the cup, without any covering;" as 

 you have seen. All this agrees so well with our spe- 

 cimen, that there can be no doubt about the genus. 



There is but one native species of Glecho'ma, the 

 hedera'cea ; and it may be distinguished from the 

 foreign species by the leaves, which, you perceive, 

 are nearly kidney-shaped, and scolloped at the 

 edges. When rubbed on the under side, they have 

 a pleasant smell ; the upper side has none. The 

 leaves and young shoots of this plant were used in 

 England for giving a flavour to ale, till the reign of 

 Henry the Eighth, about which period hops were 

 substituted. 



The figure of the leaf has been found to be of 

 great use for distinguishing the species ; and bo- 



